


Surrender

by rusticshrubs



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Falling In Love, Haggar Controls Keith's Quintessence, Happy Ending, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Klance Fight, M/M, Mind Manipulation, duel, physical fighting, swordfight
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 18:01:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15779238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rusticshrubs/pseuds/rusticshrubs
Summary: A water droplet bounced off his helmet, and Lance sighed. For once in his life, he didn’t want rain. Not now. The sky eased from pale white to murky grey in minutes. The Paladin reached Black’s huge paw and casually knocked on the cool metal. “I need to know if you’re alive, man. Common courtesy,” he said, feeling a chilly panic crawl up his throat. He shot down any pride he had left and added a quiet “please.”-Haggar sees an opportunity - Keith's quintessence - and uses it to force him and Lance into a fight.





	Surrender

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all! enjoy! there will be more chapters in the future. title and lyrics from the song "surrender" by natalie taylor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's some art i made for this fic! https://artlaureli.tumblr.com/post/177298881694/scars

 

_We let the waters rise_

_We drifted to survive_

_I needed you to stay_

_But I let you drift away_

_My love where are you?_

 

All he felt was a dark tingling inside of his throat, suffocating his words and drowning his consciousness. His eyesight expanded with a yellow glow, and his senses began to overflow with a foreign energy. The blade from his bayard emanated a nebulous, stygian aura, prompting his fingertips to move. Arms lifting his sword eerily, he felt an uncomfortable numbness spreading across his skin.

 

_The Paladins… Voltron…_

 

His thoughts disseminated, scattering too quickly for him to latch onto anything specific. The murky shadows looming atop his body flooded his nerves. He tried to lurch his arms down from their alienage, but they were stone still, and entrapment continued to take over. Enslaved to his own body, he closed his eyes tightly, hoping for it to be a bad dream - a nightmare. However, the darkness continued to seep into his limbs, and amongst it all, he heard a scratchy, ghostly voice declare to him:

 

_You will now fight for the Galra empire._

 

-

 

Keith was acting strange. After a few moments, the strange turned into eerie, which - rightfully so - made Lance uneasy. The oddness of their setting - the astral plane, only sprouted more concern on the Red Paladin’s part. Stars hung serenely in the ink-black sky, reds and blues outshining the rest. _Those are our colors,_ he first thought when they arrived. If their situation weren’t so dire, Lance would have considered the two of them sitting back and gazing upwards for a couple of hours.

 

But, the rest of the team was unreachable and possibly in danger, so they had to find some way to contact them. This was one of their many options. Lance and Keith were determined to find them - so, undoubtedly, they would. Things usually worked out for both of them when they were together. Maybe it was biased and fictitious, but since they made such a good team, Lance found himself, more often than not, levitating towards the other Paladin.

 

“Are you alright, man?” He asked warily, only to receive silence. Keith stood quiet and still, clutching his bayard so tight his knuckles began to pale. _Was he angry at him?_ Surprisingly, Lance realized that Keith being upset because of something _he_ did was one of the last things he wanted. He furrowed eyebrows. “Keith?”

 

Then, like a ghost, Keith’s form faded out of his sight. Lance made a surprised sound, then quickly compelled himself from the astral plane. Keith might have lost his connection for a second, which explained the sudden disappearance.

 

He opened his eyes and peered out of Red’s window. He willed the concern in his voice to a minimum. “You need a break? I could use one, too,” Lance sighed, tapping his control panel to drop him off on the rocky ground below them. His jetpack whirred as his feet touched the surface. Still nothing from the Black Lion. Clouds began to form above the area as he jogged over to the mechanical creature. “Are you there? Keith!”

 

A water droplet bounced off his helmet, and Lance sighed. For once in his life, he didn’t want rain. Not now. The sky eased from pale white to murky grey in minutes. The Paladin reached Black’s huge paw and casually knocked on the cool metal. “I need to know if you’re alive, man. Common courtesy,” he said, feeling a chilly panic crawl up his throat. He shot down any pride he had left and added a quiet _“please.”_

 

After standing in the misty fog as the rain pattered onto his armor for a couple of long moments, Lance finally saw movement. “Keith?” He asked, calling out to the other pilot. A form appeared from behind Black’s other paw, walking strangely. Before he could see his face, the figure launched into a sprint towards the Red Paladin. “Uh…” He said guardedly, lifting his arms in slight defense.

 

When Keith sprinted closer, Lance gasped as he saw his face. Glowing, yellow eyes. They looked empty and dark. Like he’d been drained of all human emotion. Even Keith couldn’t pull that face sober - he had feelings! Lance could attest to that, which meant something was deadly wrong. His blood ran cold as he looked at his hands, a long object glinting through the fog. _His bayard sword?_

 

Before he could react, Keith lunged at him faster than humanly possible with a profound strength. Lance barely had time to summon his bayard and clash sword against sword. He fell to the ground, the other Paladin on top of him - pressing his bayard towards his chest as he heaved for a breath. “What are you doing? Stop!” He coughed out, trying to kick his legs up as Keith pinned him down.

 

The warmth of their bodies merged as armored limbs clashed, and Lance gripped onto his Altean sword tightly as his teammate pushed his blade down further. They made eye contact, and something cold in Keith’s eyes made Lance shudder. The rain pouring down onto the half-Galran’s unprotected face dampened his raven-black hair. He stared silently as Lance blinked at him in frantic confusion, arms shaking slightly from the pressure. The Red Paladin could hear his own loud pants of breath, Keith’s slight chest movements, - it was almost silent - until something in Keith’s eyes changed. They became colder, like a present darkness spread deeper into his body.

 

Lance’s eyes widened as the Black bayard materialized into Keith’s other hand, and he stumbled quickly out of the way. The blade came crashing into the ground where he was, and Keith yelled out angrily. It almost didn’t sound like his voice. It was almost like…He ducked as the Black Paladin expertly swung his weapon towards his chest, kicking his leg out to trip him. If he wanted to use his gun, he needed to be a good distance away. All he had was his sword right now, something he wasn’t fully trained with.

 

Keith dodged his leg, jumping behind him to attack. Lance stumbled, limbs failing him.“I don’t want to hurt you!” He tried to shout, only resulting in a breathy whisper as Keith swung at him. _He really didn’t._ Alarms blared inside of his head. _He’s not trying to hurt me_ , he thought. _He’s aiming to kill._ One wrong move and Keith would slice him up.

 

Lance’s teammate dodged his sword and leaped into the air - landing his knee against the Red Paladin’s helmet. A sickening _crack_ roared through his thumping head, and he gripped his neck in pain. “Ah!” He yelped, crumbling to the ground. His legs tumbled down first, shaking badly. Lance almost wasn’t aware of Keith approaching him again.

 

The rain was pouring now, wettening his bruised face and dripping into his armor. Keith managed to slice down his jetpack, so the cold air and water was seeping down his aching bones. The half-Galran’s steps were getting louder, sounding like gunshots to his ears as his disoriented mind tried to understand where he was. He lunged again, and this time - Lance couldn’t dodge it. He summoned his shield against his forearm.

 

The loud clang of sword against shield echoed through the booming rain and thunder. Keith pushed hard against the material, and it shimmered a bit. Lance thought : _Oh, no. Don’t break on me now._ It was flickering like a waning light bulb that was about to burn out, and then Keith stepped back a bit and threw his body onto Lance. They were both grunting as each of them tried to maintain balance, but Lance felt something in his elbows give out. His shield collapsed, and he immediately threw his arms over his face.

 

He wasn’t quick enough, because the Black bayard was already slicing across his face - his upper left cheek to his eye, and through his eyebrow. Lance cried out, grasping his eye as blood ran through his sore fingers. His stoic teammate stood above him, sword in hand - staring at him silently. Lance listened for his breaths, maybe even a scoff - anything to assure him that this was _Keith._ The hotshot pilot he admired at the Garrison. The Paladin he bonded with. Someone whom he respected, and gained respect from. Someone he might even...

Pain blurred his watery vision. Red armor, facing him.

 

“Keith, please…” He felt a painful, crimson tear run down his bruised features - stinging into his fresh wound. His hands were shaking viciously now, nerves high as his body ached. One tear turned into another, and now he was _crying_ in front of Keith - which was somehow _way_ worse than fighting him. His chest ached as liquid streamed down his cheeks - merging with the pouring rain. Lance felt his throat tighten as his lips quivered, while he tried holding back the salty waterfall.

 

His ribs ached, everything hurt, and Keith was now approaching him again. Lance was too exhausted to get up, and convinced himself that his legs wouldn’t comply anyway. The Black bayard was raised above his head, and the Red Paladin made spine-chilling eye contact with Keith. His pupils were bright purple, surrounded by a pale yellow glow. His mouth set in a straight, hollow line. Something clicked in Lance’s mind amongst all of the pain, and he waited tensely for the final blow. The Black Paladin thrust the sword down towards his teammate’s neck, and he didn’t move until it was inches from his skin.

 

“I’m sorry,” Lance winced out, summoning his bayard and bending his elbows to slam the hilt of King Alfor’s broadsword against Keith’s temple. The rain continued, and didn’t stop when Keith silently fell to the ground. The fog didn’t obscure his vision as much as before, so he could see the half-Galran clearly. Lance hobbled towards him, breathing heavily while crawling on his knees to reach the other male. He groaned as his body denied him strength, forcing him to lean against the uneven, rocky planet’s surface. His hand touched Keith’s arm, skin still warm - which meant he was very much _alive. When he woke up, would he try to kill him again?_

 

Lance barely had time to answer himself before his eyes shut, the world faded into a dark abyss, and he fell unconscious.

 


End file.
